Frances was born on Sept. 22, 1929 in Bartlesville, Okla. to Frankie Johnson and Laura Ervabell Bechtel. The family moved to Los Angeles prior to 1945, and later to Long Beach, where she graduated from high school.

Frances married Frank Prentiss Kern Jr. on July 11, 1945 in Las Vegas, Nev. and together they had five children. She loved all of the outdoors including camping, fishing, boating and water-skiing. Frances remarried Paul Hebert in 1969, and relocated to Siskiyou County, then Klamath Falls OR, and eventually to Medford, Ore. Frances was also a well-loved, longtime friend of Bill W., enjoying decades of happy sobriety among friends and family.

Frances Johnson was a descendant of Israel and Mary Haff of the Delaware Tribe of Oklahoma. Frances eventually returned for a visit to Oklahoma in 2001, for the first time since leaving there in the 1940s. There, along with two of her daughters, she visited the Delaware Indian Headquarters in Bartlesville, met the Chief Dee Ketchum and his wife Annette, and visited once again with several extended family members. Fran had many fond memories of that visit.

Survivors include her son Frank Prentiss Kern III of Medford; three daughters L. Kathleen Kern of Medford, Chris Dotson and her husband Ron of Yreka, and Sandra Boyce and her husband Michael of Medford; one grandson; two granddaughters; and one great-grandson.

She was preceded in death by her first husband Frank, her second husband Paul, and her son Bradford Gary Kern.

Funeral arrangements are by Conger-Morris Funeral Directors of Central Point. A viewing will be held from 2-5 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012 at Conger-Morris. Graveside services will be held at Little Shasta Valley Cemetery in Montague at 10 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 12, 2012.